Honestly?

In our family, we do our level best not to lie. There may be times when what we say turns out not to be true, but that's an error, not a lie. So we don't use terms like "To tell you the truth" and "well, honestly" very often. Now that means that we have to carefully consider each word, and decide each time whether to speak at all, answer with what we know to be true, or lead the conversation in a different direction. But we don't lie.

There are times when you just get trapped. A new mom brings her baby up and someone says "isn't it beautiful?" and looks over at you. Well beloved, I've got two sons who were babies once, and they weren't always beautiful. After all, they have my genes too, not just those of my beautiful wife. There were stages when they were... in transition. :)

You still loved them, but they weren't beautiful.

I write all that to get to this - It hurts when I hear people say "I'm not going to be there on Easter." Easter matters. If a Christian would rather be at the beach than in worship of God on Easter, then I must be way off on what God expects our hearts to be attuned to.

It's the spirit of the age, I guess. Preferences trump piety. The Body of Christ isn't something you invest your life into, for you it's another charm, trinket, or badge you put on when you feel like it. Your local church isn't the place God called you into to strengthen, to serve through, to be a part of - for you it's just one of the franchises and if another has a better menu, you move there.

All over the world, people are gathering today even though by the very act of doing so, they risk death. In Iraq, in Nigeria, in Indonesia, in India, in China and other places, Christians recognize that celebrating the resurrection is important - is something you HAVE to do - "we love, because He first loved us" reaction to Jesus' actions on our behalf. They see their brothers and sisters as indispensable parts of a whole community of faith that's worth investing everything into for as long as God needs them there.

Love you guys, but honestly, this - Easter is optional, my church doesn't matter behavior isn't beautiful.

It's wrong.

It hurts.

Giving Your Life Away

"The healing of evil - scientifically or otherwise - can be accomplished only by the love of individuals.A willing sacrifice is required. The individual healer must allow his or her own soul to become the battleground. He or she must sacrificially absorb the evil.

Then what prevents the destruction of the soul? If one takes the evil into one's heart, like a spear, how can one's goodness still survive? What will be achieved beyond some meaningless trade-off? I cannot answer this in language other than mystical. I can only say that there is a mysterious alchemy where the victim becomes the victor.

As C.S. Lewis wrote,"When a willing victim who committed no treachery was killed in a traitor's stead, the Table would crack and Death itself would start working backwards."

I do not know how this occurs. But I know that it does...

Whenever this happens there is a slight shift in the balance of power in the world."
- from People of the Lie, M. Scott Peck

Resurrection!

"I doubt it."

Those might be the words you live by.

People have let you down so many times that when you catch a glimpse of hope, or someone seems to come into your life that gives you an indication that things might be different - that your life could change - the first words that come to your mind are "I doubt it."

You aren't alone in that. And it's okay to begin your journey with doubts. God knows where you are going, even if you don't. Just start walking with Him. 

Bring your doubts with you. 

One thing I am constantly thankful for are the realistic pictures I get when I read about people's lives as shown to us in the Bible. Despite all the people we sometimes see in church making constant efforts to present a plastic "front" to their lives, when we look at the Bible, we see a quite different person emerging. One who is real in their fears, in their worries, and in their doubts.

I'm reading last night, and I come across Abraham and Sarah. "God bless them", my mother would have said. They were so mixed up at times and made so many mistakes along the way.

An example:

Then one of them said, "About this time next year I will return, and your wife Sarah will have a son." Now Sarah was listening to this conversation from the tent nearby. And since Abraham and Sarah were both very old, and Sarah was long past the age of having children, she laughed silently to herself. "How could a worn-out woman like me have a baby?" she thought. "And when my master--my husband--is also so old?"

Then the LORD said to Abraham, "Why did Sarah laugh? Why did she say, 'Can an old woman like me have a baby?' Is anything too hard for the LORD? About a year from now, just as I told you, I will return, and Sarah will have a son." Sarah was afraid, so she denied that she had laughed. But he said, "That is not true. You did laugh." Gen 18:10-15 (NLT)

And that's where it ends. We are left with a picture of a woman who doubts that God can do what He says He will do, who laughs almost in His face  - is caught doing it, then denies it to His face.

Not a pretty picture.

We have several slogans around here at New Hope, but perhaps my favorite is a quote from an old saint named A.W. Tozer. I'm convinced it has helped all of us as a church look past our doubts and focus on God's promises. Tozer wrote:

"Anything God has ever done, He can do now.

Anything He has ever done anywhere, He can do here.

Anything He has ever done for anyone, He can do for you."

Would Sarah have said that? Maybe not at first, but she did grow to believe God could. After the doubt, came a time of reflection, and a realization that God was able.

Later we read:

Sarah, too, had faith, and because of this she was able to become a mother in spite of her old age, for she realized that God, who gave her his promise, would certainly do what he said.  Heb 11:11 (Living)

Friends, I'm writing this to you today to tell you that God has not changed.

But some of us need to.

Embrace the idea that God loves you, and that He can do whatever He needs to do to help you see that.

He can lift you when you are weak.

He can still your heart when you are fearful.

He can demonstrate His power anyway He chooses.
He can raise the dead!

He can do that in your life, in the life of those around you, in your community, in a church.

Is anything too hard for the Lord?

Jesus is risen! Just as He said.